by M. A. Foster
“What’s that?”
“Go out tonight.”
Rolling my eyes, I pull my hand from her grasp and lean against the counter. I’d rather spend the evening in my pajamas, eating ice cream and watching old chick flicks. The ones my mother loved.
“I mean it, Vanessa. It’s Friday. Call Gabbi and have a girls’ night out. Ask Mia to go, too.” Mia and Katie met a few days after I moved in. I wanted to introduce Mia to my best friends, but Gabbi was busy working on her book, so it ended up just being Mia, Katie, and me. “She’s become a good friend to you, and I think it would be good to surround yourself with friends. Especially since I won’t be here.”
It’s true. Mia has become a good friend. She’s always nice, always in a good mood, and never has a bad thing to say about anyone. We have lunch together a few times a week, and sometimes her best friend, Holly, joins us.
I pull my lips to the side, pretending to mull over her suggestion. “I’ll think about it.”
She raises her brows. “No thinking about it. You’re going. Do I need to call Gabbi?”
“Fine.” I release a heavy sigh. “I’ll go, but on one condition.”
She purses her lips. “What?”
“Promise me you’ll have fun in London.”
She grins. “I plan to.”
I tilt my head and give her a knowing look. Katie has been through hell, and she hides behind her work so she doesn’t have to deal with life or the hazards of dating. I get it. I do. But she deserves so much more than she allows herself. “Not your kind of fun but real fun.” I point at her, and she pouts. “Live-in-the-moment kind of fun. You’re going to London, Katie. Go out and do some sightseeing. Go to a pub and eat fish and chips. Have a real English breakfast, and for the sake of your poor neglected vagina, find a hot Englishman and fuck his brains out.”
“I’m not making any promises, but I’ll think about it.”
“Fair enough.” I nod once. “I gotta get to work. I’ll meet you at the cemetery at noon.”
“I’ll be there.”
VANESSA
“So tell me about this Mia chick,” Gabbi starts. “Will I love her or hate her?”
I shoot her an annoyed look. “Why would I invite her out with us if I thought you’d hate her? She’s my coworker and my friend, so behave yourself. Oh, there she is.” I raise a hand to get Mia’s attention, and Gabbi looks over her shoulder.
“She looks fam— Oh fuck,” she says before turning her wide-eyed gaze back to me. “Whatever happens in the next few minutes, I promise to explain everything.” She presses her hands together like she’s praying. “Please don’t be mad.”
My brows pinch in confusion. “What are you—”
Before I can get the question out, Mia arrives at our table. “Hey, sorry I’m—” Her gaze snags on Gabbi. “—late. You look familiar.”
Gabbi extends her hand to shake Mia’s. “Hi, I’m Gabbi.”
“I’m Mia.” Her brows pinch together as if she’s trying to place Gabbi.
The server arrives at our table as Mia slides into the half-moon booth beside me. We put in our orders for cocktails and appetizers, and once the server is out of earshot, Mia turns to me. “You’re Liam’s Vanessa.”
My brows dip in confusion. Random.
She continues, “You’re the ex he’s still in love with.”
What?
“Wait—” My heart twists in my chest. Oh. Well, this is awkward. “The guy who friend-zoned you was Liam?” I ask.
“Yes.” Mia gives a slow nod as if she’s still processing. Her gaze shifts to Gabbi. “I saw you talking to Liam at the wedding. He told me you were a friend of his ex-wife.”
I swing my head in Gabbi’s direction in time to see her wince, chewing on the inside of her bottom lip. “You talked to Liam?” I ask incredulously.
“Yes,” she admits.
“What did you say to him? Wait. What were you even doing at the wedding?”
Her face twists up in annoyance. “I was invited, asshole.”
I tilt my head. “By who? You don’t even know them.”
“I went as Levi’s date. He works security for Jayla.”
“Your brother works for Jay?” Frustration pricks at my nerves, making me anxious. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Wait,” Mia cuts in. “Levi is your brother?”
Gabbi nods, and her gaze cuts to me. “Levi recently took over as the head of Jayla’s security detail. He’s actually with her right now on tour. Both my cousins went to school with Zach and were in the wedding party.”
Mia shakes her head slowly. “Big city. Small world.”
Gabbi shrugs. “It’s Heritage. We’re all connected one way or another.”
Isn’t that the truth?
The waiter returns to our table with the appetizers and drinks. The moment my dirty martini touches the table, I curl my hand around the stem and chug it down, knowing damn well I’m going to pay for this tomorrow. Being back in Heritage is wreaking havoc on my liver. I’ve consumed more alcohol in the month I’ve been home than I have the past two years I was with Jake. He wasn’t a big drinker; a glass of wine here and there with dinner was about the extent of it.
“I’ll take another when you get a chance,” I say, plucking the olive garnish from inside the glass before passing it back to the server.
He chuckles. “No problem. Another dirty martini coming right up.”
“Well….” I sigh, leaning against the cushion of the booth with my hands clasped in my lap.
“I’m sorry, Vanessa.” This comes from Mia.
I wave her off. “Don’t be. I’m not upset that you dated Liam. He and I have been over for a long time, and he’s dated plenty of women since then. Hell, I was engaged to another man.”
Gabbi shoots me a look telling me she thinks I’m full of shit.
I just shrug. Admitting my true feelings for Liam would be drawing an invisible line in the sand between Mia and me. I don’t want that tension between us.
“Because you were trying to move on,” Gabbi states matter-of-factly. “That doesn’t mean you stopped loving him.”
She’s right. No matter how much I love Liam, it doesn’t change what happened between us.
Mia turns to me. “You can tell me to mind my own business, but can I ask what happened?”
“He cheated on me,” I blurt.
Gabbi scoffs. “He didn’t cheat on you, Vanessa,” she drawls out my name.
I whip my head to the side and narrow my eyes. “He was basically dating another woman while in a committed relationship”—I enunciate the last two words, reminding her of what she said during our conversation about cheating—“with me.”
“If you would’ve stuck around and given him a chance to explain, you would’ve known exactly what was going on.”
“I didn’t need him to explain.” My voice rises. “Milana told me everything.” I’m half tempted to slap my best friend. This is the exact argument we had five years ago.
“Milana?” Mia cuts in. “Are you talking about the actress Milana Bedhi?”
“Yep,” I say, popping the p and crossing my arms over my chest.
Gabbi rolls her eyes, completely unfazed by my little outburst. “Let’s agree to disagree, Vanessa. Like I told you before, as your best friend, I’m always going to be on your side, but also as your best friend, I’m entitled to my opinion. I think both of you are walking around with unresolved issues, and until you actually have a real conversation, neither of you will be able to move on.” She holds up her hand to stop me from speaking. “I don’t mean with other people, because obviously you’ve both done that.” Her eyes flick briefly to Mia before returning to me. “I mean emotionally. You’re harboring a lot of anger and resentment, and he’s—”
“Holding on to a lot of pain and guilt,” Mia adds, pulling both Gabbi’s and my attention to her. “When Liam mentioned an ex-wife, I was completely shocked. I mean, I know he’s a private guy. But—”
She sighs. “—everything makes sense now. Him not wanting a relationship. The pained expression on his face when he said your name. It was like it physically hurt him to talk about you. I care about both of you, and I feel bad about what happened. And really I’m sorry, Vanessa, but I agree with Gabbi. I feel like you and Liam are walking around under a big gray cloud of misunderstanding. You need to sit down and talk it out. Even if you decide at the end to go your separate ways, at least you’ll get some closure.”
Closure. I’d tried to get closure last time and only made things worse.
“How are things going with Mason?” I ask, changing the subject.
Mia’s shoulders sag. “We’re taking a break.”
I frown. “Isn’t it a little early in the relationship for a break?”
“There is no relationship. He says he cares about me, but he just got out of a long relationship, and he’s not ready to dive into another one.”
“Then it’s his loss,” Gabbi chimes in.
“I agree,” I add.
“Yeah.” Mia laughs. “I’m over being the rebound.”
I try not to wince. I hate that Mia keeps getting rejected by men who are hung up on other women. I hate even more that one of those women is me.
Mia’s expression is pained as she says, “No offense, Vanessa.”
I wave her off. “None taken.”
The waiter returns with another dirty martini and sets it on the napkin in front of me. He pauses, waiting to see if I’m going to chug this one down. I grin and give him a slight shake of my head. “I’m good.”
He gestures between Gabbi and Mia. “You ladies good?”
“I’ll take another,” they both say in unison.
He nods with a smile before he walks off.
“Well,” Gabbi says, eyeing us over the rim of her martini glass before tossing back the remainder of her drink, “I couldn’t tell you this before because then I would’ve had to admit that I was at the wedding and that I talked to Liam, but I took the groom’s brother home with me afterward, and we had very hot sex.”
Mia and I both laugh. “Hot sex?”
“Hot and dirty.” Gabbi wiggles her brows. “The best sex I’ve had in—” She rolls her eyes upward as if she’s flipping through a mental rolodex of ex-lovers. “—ever.”
“Does the groom’s brother have a name?” I ask.
“Logan,” Mia answers before Gabbi can.
I snort. Of course she knows his name. “And will you be seeing Logan again?”
If Logan looks anything like his brother, Gabbi needs to tie that man to her bed.
She shakes her head. “He’s got a kid.”
My brows pinch in confusion. “So? I thought you liked kids.”
“I love kids.” She presses a hand to her chest. “But I love me more.” Mia giggles, and I roll my eyes. “I’m sorry if that makes me sound shallow,” she goes on. “But I’m twenty-five and I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up. I’m not ready to be someone’s baby stepmama.” Her face puckers as if she’s sucked a lemon. “And besides, it’s not like he asked for my number.”
I mock gasp, bringing a hand to my throat. “You mean after all that hot and dirty sex, he didn’t get down on one knee and profess his undying love to the Gabriella Martinez? That scoundrel.”
Gabbi snorts and gives me the middle finger. “Not all of us are lucky enough to have a man pining over them for the last five years.” She lifts her brows in a challenge as she brings the martini glass to her lips.
“Fuck off, Gigi.”
“Whatever you say, Vannie.”
“Can I just say this has been the most entertaining night I’ve had in weeks?” Mia says with a laugh, holding out her glass. “Are we good, Vanessa?”
I clink my glass against hers. “We are so good, Mia.”
OCTOBER
VANESSA
“Who’s up next?” Dr. Parker asks.
“Noah Riley,” I reply, passing him the iPad.
With it being football season, it’s been a busy few weeks in the orthopedic department. As the official team physicians for the Heritage Bay Storm and several other college and high school sports teams in the bay area, 75 percent of our patients are athletes.
“Mr. Riley,” Dr. Parker greets as he steps into the exam room and extends his hand. “How’s the ankle?”
Noah Riley is the wide receiver for the Heritage Bay Storm. He’s missed the last three games due to an ankle sprain he suffered in game two of the season.
Noah makes a show of rotating his foot. “Feels great. I’m ready to get back on the field.” His attention shifts in my direction, and he noticeably and unapologetically scans me from head to toe. It’s not the first time. Or the second.
I fight back an eye roll and silently pray he doesn’t ask me out again. I won’t deny he’s attractive in an all-American-boy way: blond hair, blue eyes, and a well-conditioned body. But I have no desire to ever date another athlete, or doctor, for that matter. Unfortunately, Heritage is overpopulated with both.
After a thorough exam of Noah’s ankle, Dr. Parker gives the all clear but schedules him for a follow-up in two weeks. “You’re good to go. I’ll email the results over to the Storm.” He taps the screen of the iPad and passes it to me before reaching into his pocket and holding out a business card to Noah. “My cell number is on there, too. If you need anything, please call me.”
“Thanks,” Noah replies with a nod before flicking his gaze to me. Reaching into his pocket, he pulls out his buzzing phone and looks at the screen. “Do you mind if I take this real quick?”
“Take your time,” Dr. Parker says as he opens the door and gestures for me to step out first.
Closing the door behind him, Dr. Parker falls in step beside me, tucking his hands into the pockets of his lab coat. “I think someone has a crush on you.”
I snort. “It’ll pass.”
He turns to me, brows raised in curiosity. “Doctors and athletes?”
I shoot him a look that says, “Really?” “I never figured you for the type to play coy,” I tease.
He shoots me a knowing grin. “Let’s talk about it over lunch. My treat.”
I give a noncommittal hmm. “Only because I’m starving.”
“Great. I’ll meet you out front in fifteen minutes.” He continues toward his office, and I stop at the small workstation to deposit the iPad.
“Vanessa.”
I look over at Noah leaning a shoulder against the wall. “Hey. Did you need something?”
“Go out with me.”
I heave out a deep breath. “I’m not looking for a relationship,” I blurt.
He nods once with a smirk. “Good. Neither am I.” He grabs my hand and presses it to his muscular chest over his heart. “Come on, Vanessa. One dinner.”
I’m probably going to regret this. But it’s only dinner, right? It’s not like he’s asking me to marry him. “Okay. One dinner.”
A smile stretches across his adorable face, and he releases my hand before pulling his phone from his back pocket. “How’s Friday night?”
I return a smile. “Sounds good.”
His phone buzzes in his hand. “Crap. I gotta take this.” He holds up a finger and mouths, “One sec,” before stepping away to take the call.
I leave Noah to his call and head for the nurses’ station to see if Mia’s at her desk.
Rounding the corner, I jerk to a stop, my breath leaving me in a whoosh at the sight of Liam standing at the end of the hall talking to Mia. What the hell is he doing here?
A sudden wave of jealousy hits me square in the chest. Mia is leaning with her back against the wall, arms crossed over her chest, and Liam is standing in front of her with his arms also crossed. I only have a view of their profiles, but I can see the smile on Mia’s face as Liam speaks to her, and I can’t help but wonder if things changed between them since our girls’ night out a few weeks ago.
I was being honest with Mia when I said I wasn�
��t upset that she dated Liam. How I feel has nothing to do with her and everything to do with me.
Mia’s laugh pulls me out of my thoughts.
What’s he saying to make her laugh? Is he trying to get back with her? Does he know I’m here?
I need to get over myself and walk away, because seeing them together has my mind wandering to places it shouldn’t.
Did he kiss her the way he kissed me?
Did he fuck her the way he fucked me?
Did he hold her?
Did he play with her hair?
Did he have a cute pet name for her?
Liam pulls Mia into a hug, pressing a kiss to her forehead, and I die a little inside.
A hard body slams into me from behind, causing me to stumble forward and my tennis shoes to squeak loudly against the polished floor.
“I’m so sorry,” a familiar voice says, curling a muscular arm around my middle to keep me from face-planting on the hard floor.
“It’s okay,” I say, turning to Noah.
A smirk tugs at his lips. “You didn’t give me your number.”
I open my mouth, but the sharpness of Liam’s voice cuts in.
“Vanessa.” Turning, I find him standing less than a foot away, jaw clenched and eyes narrowed on Noah.
Noah turns to me, brows furrowed in confusion, but his eyes are asking “Who the hell is this guy?”
“Liam,” Dr. Parker calls out from behind me, drawing Liam’s attention over my shoulder.
“Hey, James,” he greets his godfather, his tone soft and polite.
My shoulders sag in relief when Liam sidesteps Noah and me to hug James. I swear I could hug Dr. Parker, too. Maybe I’ll buy him lunch today.
I continue down the hall toward the reception area to wait for Dr. Parker to finish up with Liam. I arch my neck, searching for Mia, but she’s nowhere around.
Noah stops beside me. “Are you dating Liam Mackenzie?”
I whip my head to the side. “No,” I snap.
Noah chuckles, raising his hands in defense. “Okay, okay. Give me your number.”
Dread fills my stomach as I rattle off my cell number and Noah types it in his phone.
